Dryer appliances generally include a cabinet with a drum rotatably mounted therein. A motor can selectively rotate the drum during operation of the dryer appliance, e.g., to tumble articles located within a chamber defined by the drum. Dryer appliances also generally include a heater assembly that passes heated air through the chamber of the drum in order to dry moisture laden articles disposed within the chamber.
To circulate heated air, certain dryer appliances include an impeller assembly, the impeller assembly including an impeller positioned within a housing. During operation of the dryer appliance, the impeller urges a flow of heated air into the chamber of the drum. Such heated air absorbs moisture from articles disposed within the chamber. The impeller also urges moisture laden air out of the chamber through a vent. The vent can be connected to household ductwork that directs the moisture laden air outdoors.
Conventionally, impellers include a plurality of blades mounted to a hub. However, the arrangement of blades may result in a spike in a sound power level due to a consistent frequency at which the plurality of blades pass a cut-off edge defined between a volute and a transition member of the housing.
Accordingly, an impeller assembly for a dryer appliance with features for reducing a spike in sound power level during operation of the impeller assembly would be beneficial. More particularly, an impeller assembly with one or more features for disrupting the frequency at which the plurality of blades pass the cut-off edge during operation of the impeller assembly would be particularly useful.